Formerly staff writer for the Danville, Illinois, Commercial-News, she was editor of the Georgetown News and its two subsidiaries, the Catlin Courier and the Westville News, and served a resident internship with the Illinois State Register, She holds an M.A. degree in Public Affairs reporting from Sangamon State University.

How small, public libraries can get equalization aid

More money for Georgetown's library

MANY OF THE public libraries in Illinois could use more money. These libraries may apply for equalization aid through the office of the secretary of state. The way in which one community, Georgetown, responded to the financial needs of its library by applying for equalization aid provides a guide for other communities in similar situations.

Naomi Dietkus, new librarian for the Georgetown public library, had made a list of the needs of the library in accordance with the library board's request. She was deeply discouraged when she matched the list of needs against the usual annual funding.

Couldn't afford card index

Georgetown had a recorded population of 3,984 in the 1970 census and property assessed at $5,848,095. Yet, that same year the city library received only $3,157.97 for its total operation. This amounted to 79 cents per capita or .054 cents for every $100 on property at the assessed valuation.

When the board next met there was much discussion of how to keep the spending within the budget and still maintain a respectable institution. Dolores Wasko, president-elect of the
board, spoke for all when she noted the
obvious lacks in the library and observed that "unless we have a card index
we really don't have a library. We just
have a collection of books."

Overlook outside funds

Large city libraries with professional
staffs are well informed about sources
for funds. It is the small library with
volunteer help or a staff without professional training that is likely to overlook these sources. The sources are
often ignored because the boards and
staffs feel it is too complicated to fulfill
the funding requirements of outside
sources.

Fortunately, one board member at
Georgetown scanned a piece of correspondence that brought a partial solution to the question of "Where do we
get funds?" The form was Application
For Equalization Aid which is routinely
sent out by the secretary of state to
libraries which are supported by tax
levies.

Illinois has provision

Public Act 76-645 establishes
equalization aid for libraries and outlines its provisions. Under this act,
73 communities received a total of
$165,000 in the fiscal year which ended
on June 30. The act requires that the
library asking for aid must tax the
citizens at least at the minimum rate of
.06 per cent, that is six cents for every
$100 of property at its assessed value.
Since the library tax levy for
Georgetown had been .054 per cent, it
had to be raised .006 per cent. This
meant a homeowner with $40,000 property assessed at one half its cash value
would have his annual library tax
raised from $10.80 to $12.00.

Met the requirements

In order to get the increased levy, the
library board had to submit a budget
proposal to the city council asking for
enough funds to make the levy at least
the minimum .06 per cent. A budget
proposal for a small library is not difficult to construct. It is simply a listing
of proposed expenditures which are
necessary to the operation of a library.
These include wages, social security,
maintenance of the property, utilities,
insurance, supplies, legal notices and, of
course, the purchase of books, papers
and periodicals.

When the city fathers of Georgetown
approved the application for the tax
levy increase, all that was required was
some paperwork and a couple of trips
to Danville, the county seat. Census figures are obtained from the latest
U.S. census data, and the county clerk
is required to fill in and to certify the
property value and the current tax levy.
The state statute allows a maximum .15
per cent library levy without a referendum and a maximum .40 levy with a
referendum. No matter what per cent
rate the town levies the state computes
for the purpose of the grant the per
capita assessment at .06 per cent. As long as this assessment yields less than
$1.50 per capita the state will make up
the difference between this figure and
$1.50.

Finally has a card file

In the three years since the first
application for aid was made, the
Georgetown public library has received
equalization grants from $2,000 to
almost $2,600 annually. For
Georgetown these grants mean that the
library has been able to free other funds
for remodeling, steel shelves, and some
equipment. The board was able to give
the librarian a larger wage. Both the
quantity and quality of the books have
improved. Where the shelves used to be
filled with out-dated and little read fiction, there are now some much needed
reference books. Patrons don't have to
wait until one can be delivered from
some other library in the system. And a
33-year-old dream has become a reality.
All the books are marked and completely catalogued in a new card file
which occupies a conspicuous spot
directly in line with the front door.ž 